One-time-use camera with electronic flash having film identifying indicia

ABSTRACT

A one-time-use camera comprising a filmstrip, a concave-shaped flash reflector having a front open end, a flash illumination-producing flash tube inside the flash reflector, and a light-transmitting flash cover-lens over the front open end of the flash reflector, is characterized in that the flash cover-lens has film identifying indicia to identify the filmstrip which are light-transmitting to the same extent as the flash cover-lens in order to transmit flash illumination produced by the flash tube in concert with the flash cover-lens.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

Reference is made to commonly assigned copending application Ser. No. 09,229,216, entitled ONE-TIME-USE CAMERA WITH ELECTRONIC FLASH HAVING FILM IDENTIFYING INDICIA WHICH CANNOT BE REMOVED WITHOUT DESTROYING FLASH and filed Jan. 13, 1999 in the names of John R. Fredlund, Joseph A. Manico, Maureen E. Churan-King and William T. Matthias.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to the field of photography, and in particular to one-time-use cameras. More specifically, the invention relates to a one-time-use camera with an electronic flash having film identifying indicia.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Film and cameras that are all in one, commonly referred to as single-use or one-time-use cameras, have become well known. The one-time-use camera is a simple point-and-shoot type comprising an opaque plastic main body part which supports a conventional film cartridge in a cartridge receiving chamber, an unexposed film roll prewound from the film cartridge onto a film take-up spool in a film supply chamber, a fixed-focus taking lens, a film metering mechanism with a rotatably supported metering sprocket that engages the filmstrip, a manually rotatable film winding thumbwheel rotatably engaged with a film spool inside the film cartridge, a single-blade shutter, a manually depressible shutter release button, a rotatable frame counter for indicating the number of exposures remaining to be made on the filmstrip, a direct see-through viewfinder having front and rear viewfinder lenses, and in some models an electronic flash. A pair of opaque plastic front and rear cover parts house the main body part between them to complete the camera unit. The rear cover part connects to the main body part and/or to the front cover part to make the main body part light-tight. A decorative cardboard outer box or label at least partially covers the camera unit and has respective openings for the taking lens, etc.

After each picture is taken with the one-time-use camera, the photographer manually rotates the thumbwheel in a film winding direction to similarly rotate the film spool inside the film cartridge. This winds an exposed frame of the filmstrip into the film cartridge. The rewinding movement of the filmstrip the equivalent of slightly more than one frame width rotates the metering sprocket in engagement with the filmstrip to decrement the frame counter to its next lower-numbered setting and to pivot a metering lever into engagement with the thumbwheel in order to prevent further manual rotation of the thumbwheel. Manually depressing the shutter release button to take another picture pivots the metering lever out of engagement with the thumbwheel to permit renewed rotation of the thumbwheel. When the maximum number of exposures available on the filmstrip have been made, and the filmstrip is completely wound into the film cartridge, the one-time-use camera is given to a photofinisher who tears the outer box off the camera unit, separates the rear cover part from the main body part, and removes the film cartridge with the exposed filmstrip from the cartridge receiving chamber. Then, he removes the exposed filmstrip from the film cartridge to develop the negatives and make prints for the customer. At least some of the used camera parts may be recycled, i.e. reused, to remanufacture the camera.

Prior Art Problem

There is a known problem in the recycling, i.e. reuse, of used camera parts, in that the reused parts may become worn or damaged and therefore should not be reused. Thus, it has been suggested that any worn or damaged parts be purposely fractured to render them visibly different during disassembly of the one-time-use camera to retrieve the exposed film. This allows the worn or damaged parts to be readily identified to be discarded, and prevents them from being erroneously reused.

Also, it has been suggested that the opaque front cover part of a remanufactured one-time-use camera with recycled parts have integrally formed film identifying indicia to visibly identify the particular brand of fresh film inside the camera. This kind of identification promotes brand awareness and, thus, tends to assure that the camera with recycled parts and fresh film is of the highest quality.

The Cross-Referenced Application

The cross-referenced application discloses a one-time-use camera comprises a filmstrip and an electronic flash with a concave-shaped flash reflector having a front open end, a flash illumination-producing flash tube inside the flash reflector, and a light-transmitting flash cover-lens over the front open end of the flash reflector. The flash reflector has film identifying indicia visible from outside the camera to identify the filmstrip, which are light-reflecting to the same extent as the flash reflector in order to reflect flash illumination produced by the flash tube in concert with the flash reflector. The flash reflector is adhered to the flash tube to prevent the flash reflector from being separated from the flash tube without breaking the flash tube, whereby removal of the film identifying indicia in effect destroys the electronic flash.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A one-time-use camera comprising a filmstrip, a concave-shaped flash reflector having a front open end, a flash illumination-producing flash tube inside the flash reflector, and a light-transmitting flash cover-lens over the front open end of the flash reflector, is characterized in that:

the flash cover-lens has film identifying indicia to identify the filmstrip which are light-transmitting to the same extent as the flash cover-lens in order to transmit flash illumination produced by the flash tube in concert with the flash cover-lens.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded front perspective view of a one-time-use camera with an electronic flash according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded front perspective view of the electronic flash;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of a flash cover-lens of the electronic flash;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view of the flash cover-lens; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-section elevation view of the flash cover lens as seen in the direction of the arrow line 5—5 in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is disclosed as being embodied preferably in a one-time-use camera. Because the features of a one-time-use camera are generally known, the description which follows is directed in particular only to those elements forming part of or cooperating directly with the disclosed embodiment. It is to be understood, however, that other elements may take various forms known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-5 show a one-time-use camera 10 which includes a plastic opaque main body part 12 and a pair of plastic opaque front and rear cover parts 14 and 16 which house the main body part between them. The front and rear cover parts 14 an 16 are connected to one another and to the main body part 12 via known hook-in-hole connections (not shown) such as disclosed in prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,740 issued Sep. 29, 1998, and prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,510 issued Sep. 20 , 1994.

As is known, the main body part 12 has a rearwardly open cartridge receiving chamber 18 for a conventional film cartridge 20 and a rearwardly open film supply chamber 22 for a rotatably supported film supply spool on which is prewound an unexposed film roll (not shown). See FIG. 1. A rearwardly open backframe opening (not shown) is located between the cartridge receiving chamber 18 and the film supply chamber 22 for exposing successive imaging sections (frames) of a filmstrip 24 which constitutes the unexposed film roll.

A film winding thumbwheel (not shown), rotatably supported on the main body part 12, protrudes outwardly from a slot (not shown) in the rear cover part 16 and has a depending coaxial stem in coaxial engagement with an exposed top end of a film spool inside the film cartridge 20. Manual winding rotation of the film winding thumbwheel counter-clockwise in FIG. 1 similarly rotates the film spool inside the film cartridge 20 to wind each exposed imaging section of the filmstrip 24 into the film cartridge.

The rear cover part 16 has a door cover portion 26 over the cartridge receiving chamber 18 and a remaining cover portion 28. A fracture line of weakness 30 which divides the door cover portion 26 and the remaining cover portion 28 permits the door cover portion to be pivoted open relative to the remaining cover portion in order to remove the film cartridge 20 from the cartridge receiving chamber 18. The film cartridge 20 is to be removed from the cartridge receiving chamber 18 when the maximum number of exposures available on the filmstrip 24 have been made and the filmstrip is completely wound into the film cartridge.

A built-in electronic flash 32 comprises a generally flat flash circuit board 34 supported on the main body part 12, a concave-shaped flash reflector 36 located (partly) in a rectangular hole 38 in the flash circuit board, a flash illumination-producing flash tube 40 positioned within the flash reflector against a rearmost curved inner side 42 of the flash reflector, and a light-transmitting transparent (or alternately translucent) plastic flash cover-lens 44 positioned over a front open end 46 of the flash reflector. See FIG. 2.

The flash tube 40 is filled with an ionizable gas, and it has an inline pair of anode and cathode main electrodes 48 and 50 at its opposite ends which protrude from respective side openings 52 in the flash reflector 36 and are connected to a capacitor 54 on the flash circuit board 34. See FIGS. 1 and 2. The resistance of the gas in the flash tube 40 is normally too high to permit a direct discharge. For firing the flash tube 40, there is provided a third electrode, i.e. a triggering electrode, (not shown) for example a triggering wire that is connected to a rearmost outer side 56 of the flash reflector 36 using solder, tape or the like. When the triggering electrode applies a triggering voltage to the flash reflector 36, the gas in the flash tube 40 is ionized, thus lowering its resistance and allowing the capacitor 54 to discharge its stored energy through the flash tube in the form of a brilliant flash of light.

The flash reflector 36 is shaped to concentrate the flash illumination produced by the flash tube 40 and to direct the flash illumination to the front open end 46 of the reflector, through the flash cover-lens 44, and towards the subject to be illuminated.

The flash cover-lens 44 has two identical resilient side-hooks 58 (only one shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) that are snugly received in corresponding openings 60 in the flash circuit board 34 to affix the flash cover-lens directly to the flash circuit board. Film identifying indicia 62, such as “Kodak Film Inside”, to identify the filmstrip 24 constitute integrally-formed raised-portions 64 of the flash cover-lens 44 that project from a flat inside surface 66 of the flash cover-lens. See FIGS. 3-5. Each one of the raised portions 64 is an individual letter of the alphabet that collectively forms the message “Kodak Film Inside”. The raised portions 64 are light-transmitting to the same extent, i.e. have the same transparency, as the remainder of the flash cover-lens 44 in order to transmit the flash illumination produced by the flash tube 40 in concert with the flash coverlens.

The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. However, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications can be effected by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, instead of the film identifying indicia 62, being raised-portions 64 of the flash cover-lens 44 that project from the flat inside surface 66 of the flash cover-lens, they can be depressions in the flat inside surface.

PARTS LIST

10. one-time-use camera

12. mainbodypart

14. front cover part

16. rear cover part

18. cartridge receiving chamber

20. film cartridge

22. film supply chamber

24. filmstrip

26. door cover portion

28. remaining cover portion

30. fracture line of weakness

32. electronic flash

34. flash circuit board

36. flash reflector

38. hole

40. flash tube

42. rearmost inner side

44. flash cover-lens

46. front open end

48. anode electrode

50. cathode electrode

52. side openings

54. capacitor

56. rearmost outer side

58. side-hooks

60. openings

62. film identifying indicia

64. raised-portions

66. flat inside surface 

What is claimed is:
 1. A one-time-use camera comprising a filmstrip, a concave-shaped flash reflector having a front open end, a flash illumination-producing flash tube inside said flash reflector, and a transparent light-transmitting flash cover-lens over said front open end of the flash reflector, is characterized in that: said flash cover-lens has integral raised transparent portions at least some of which are differently shaped from the others to form film identifying indicia to identify said filmstrip and all of which are light-transmitting to the same extent as the flash cover-lens in order to transmit flash illumination produced by said flash tube in concert with the flash cover-lens.
 2. A one-time-use camera as recited in claim 1, wherein said film-identifying indicia constitute integrally-formed raised-portions of said flash cover-lens.
 3. A one-time-use camera as recited in claim 2, wherein each one of said raised portions of the flash cover-lens is an individual letter of an alphabet.
 4. A one-time-use camera as recited in claim 2, wherein said raised portions of the flash cover-lens project from an inside surface of the flash cover-lens.
 5. A one-time-use camera comprising a filmstrip, a concave-shaped flash reflector having a front open end, a flash illumination-producing flash tube inside said flash reflector, and a light-transmitting flash cover-lens over said front open end of the flash reflector, is characterized in that: said flash cover-lens has film identifying indicia to identify said filmstrip which are integrally-formed raised-portions of said flash cover-lens that project from an inside surface of the flash cover-lens.
 6. A one-time-use camera as recited in claim 5, wherein said film-identifying indicia has the same transparency as said flash cover-lens in order to transmit flash illumination produced by said flash tube in concert with said flash cover-lens. 